The seminar was divided into two halves. The first session had speakers like Dr Venkateshwara Rao, director, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore; Dr Amit Sharma, Export Inspection Council of India; Vinayak Hasthak, Confederation of Indian Food Trade and Industry, and Dr Surya Kalyani S, scientist, BIS; addressing the delegates.
A talk delivered by Amit Sharma in good hygienic practices in food highlighted some of the hygienic practices to be followed with regard to air, water, and the environment as a whole or with regard to pesticides.
“The finished raw material has to be controlled and protected until it reaches the consumers,” Sharma said while explaining the topic. He said that the food products once detected unsuitable for consumption had to be segregated and rejected.
Sharma stressed that the equipment should be located in such a place where it was easier to clean and monitor, and that it must be located in a hygienic area to obtain a desirable temperature within a minimum period of time.
He added that water was another focus in this context whereby the new Food Safety and Standards Act had clearly mentioned or differentiated the potable water and the non-potable water.
“There should be proper storage facility for water and sufficiently protected,” said Sharma, adding that the new regulations had mentioned that the water consumed for drinking should be potable water and that non-potable water should be used for other purposes.
He said that there should be sufficient drainage and wastage proposal and that sufficient temperature control in the room where the machinery was kept.
Hasthak elaborated on good manufacturing facilities in the food sector, emphasising that the focus had to be put on personal health and hygiene; personal habits (tobacco, pan masala, etc.); hair protection; handwash and clothing and personal wear.
He stressed that the BIS had already set guidelines for these food chains, adding that the second pillar of food safety was the environment; where the plant should be located; cross-contamination and risk reduction, and regulatory compliance.
“Sections 6.3 and 6.4.3 of the BIS standards clearly talks about the pesticide,” Hasthak said.
He further said that the machines should be designed and maintained and it should be made sure that the equipment were easy to repair and maintain and designed and installed in an area where it could be cleaned easily.
He then pointed out that there was a need to infuse the validation process and that the food industry should also perceive foreign matter drive.
A detailed insight into the newly formed standards on food retail management by the BIS was revealed to the stakeholders and the food business operators by Surya Kalyani, scientist, BIS.
“To ensure safe food to the consumer it is important that the retailers play their role in the food chain as they are only reliable for safe food from a consumers’ point of view,” Kalyani said.
She said that there was a need to minimising the food damage, avoiding contamination by separating the food on time and space, and adopting a good
tracking system.
Kalyani explained that the food should be protected and the primary products should be as the value addition of the food products comes from the presentation of the products.
She said that foods must be packed following the standards mentioned by the BIS adhering to the labelling laws
The second session of the seminar covered topics on different types of adulteration of milk and the importance of the Food Safety & Standards Regulations and their role in it.
“The primary objective of the FSSA is to ensure safe and suitable food for human consumption,” Dr K U Methekar, food safety officer (FSO), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Maharashtra, in his talk.
Methekar informed that the apex regulatory body had recently engaged advocates to defend them against different cases in different courts and that only cases related to foods which were projected as injurious to health would be taken up by these advocates in the court.
Mahesh Zagade, commissioner of food, FDA, Maharashtra, and G H Rathod, joint commissioner (food), FDA, Maharashtra, were also present on the occasion.
Further, regarding a detailed scenario on the various types of milk adulteration and different ways to detect them was elaborated by M G Haridas, project manager, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
Milk is not only adulterated with water, but also with soy milk with around 5-10 per cent, and that which is difficult to detect, synthetic milk which tastes bad, has whey adulteration.
“No standards exist for antibiotic residues in milk today, which is a grey area of concern today,” he said.
He then said that India had developed a mycotoxin detection test in milk recently, which would soon be commercialised in the country.
Meanwhile Dr Sitaram Dixit, honorary chairman, Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI), explained how consumers could avoid and detect artificial ripening / adulteration in different food products such as bananas (calcium carbide); mangoes (calcium carbide); honey (jaggery water), and ice cream (washing powder), were all on the rise and were harmful to health if consumed.
